Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) last week signed on to an agreement to share information among Latin American and Caribbean countries, as the region takes steps to stamp out smuggling and counterfeit goods.
GRA boss Khurshid Sattaur signs the agreement. Sitting next to him at right is Director General of the Panamanian National Customs Authority, Dr Gloria Moreno de Lopez
The pact was signed last Wednesday, May 4 at the conclusion of a two-day conference in Panama that brought together the Customs chiefs of a number of Caribbean and Latin American countries.
Signing on behalf of the GRA was Commissioner- General Khurshid Sattaur.
Sattaur told Guyana Times International that the agreement will enable GRA to expand its network as it steps up the fight against smuggling.
Sattaur said that, prior to the signing of the agreement, GRA had its own information network. According to the agreement, the countries have agreed to join forces and strengthen information exchange in areas relating to assistance and technical cooperation between Customs administrations and security forces of the Caribbean and Latin America, to combat crime.
Last week’s conference was aimed at establishing commitments and agreements for combating organised crime. In October, directors held the first version of this initiative with participation of Guatemala, Belize, Jamaica and Panama. There, new criminal methodologies were identified.
At the opening of the meeting, Director General of the Panamanian National Customs Authority, Dr Gloria Moreno de Lopez, told delegates that one of the first steps to tackling the scourge of counterfeiting is strong international property rights law. She said that, with this law, each country will be able to put a dent on the counterfeit trade, which has brought enormous prosperity to some, while stifling the growth of legitimate businesses.
Caribbean officials at the conference said lack of support from owners of trademarks was the main challenge in fighting counterfeiting.
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